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Pentagon seeks to acquit US in Iraq deadly airstrike: Analyst

“The US rules of engagement have proven themselves to be: shoot first, ask question later," says Becker.

The United States is trying to absolve its military over the recent deadly airstrike that led to the death of a number of Iraqi soldiers in Fallujah, says an American political commentator.

“By putting an equal sign between the Iraqi government and US Air Force, as if both are equally to blame, [US Defense Secretary Ashton] Carter attempts to absolve the United States from the fact that it was their aircraft that actually killed Iraqi soldiers,” Brian Becker told Press TV on Saturday.

The US defense chief had claimed earlier that the death of Iraqi soldiers appeared to be “a mistake that involved both sides."

Iraqi Defense Ministry confirmed that the airstrike by the so-called US-led coalition against Daesh on Friday hit a convoy of Iraqi soldiers, killing or injuring ten forces near Fallujah.

Soldiers involved in the combat, however, said the death toll was higher. One officer injured in the strike, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 25 soldiers were killed and 37 wounded.

“Carter’s remarks express what happens frequently whereby the United States government refuses to take responsibility for either intentional criminal acts or unintentional criminal negligence,” said Becker.

“The US rules of engagement have proven themselves to be: shoot first, ask questions later,” said Becker, adding that “their complete ignorance of the facts on the ground in Iraq allows US pilots and US military personnel to carry out military attacks sometimes without rhyme or reason and then to compensate the victims later, either financially or through mild... apologies or, in this case, by trying to affix blame equally both to the Iraqi military, which suffered the losses, and US military, which inflicted the losses.”

US warplanes have purportedly been conducting airstrikes against Daesh terrorists in Iraq since the early August of 2014. Some Western states have also participated in some of the strikes in Iraq.

The coalition, however, has done little to stop the terrorists’ advances in parts of Syria and in western Iraq.


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